Tuesday, November 08, 2005

For the Record

You may have seen an old Web page I put together linked to in the comments on Ann Arbor is Overrated. You may have cringed or been upset when you looked at it. Let me sum up my thoughts and feelings on the subject: get over it.

I ran 3 MSA campaigns when I was an undergrad at Michigan, 1997, 1998, and another in 1998. In each case, I made fun of the political scene on campus, which I thought was totally ridiculous, self-serious, and knee-jerk liberal. Feel free to Google "Dale Winling AND MSA" and see what the internet has left from those years. One poster my sophomore year showed me holding my fist in the air like John Carlos and Tommie Evans from the Mexico City Olympics. Several people on campus thought this was offensive and complained. I sent one person a nasty email that was forwarded all over campus and I was branded a racist. I was investigated by DPS and I believe a complaint was made against me as violating the student code of conduct. There was never any merit to the claims. The following semester I ran again: the linked page was from that campaign.

I thought the materials were deleted when I transferred out of Michigan; it turns out they were not, and remained for someone who was clever enough to root around in my UofM Web storage area. When I realized they still existed I was embarrassed and removed them from the Web. For some reason Peter Honeyman felt it was worth saving, obtained a copy, and put it on his own Web site. Now I hear someone sent a link to the mayor. (What the mayor's interest might be, I have no idea.)

Here it is, for the record: if crazy pranks that 20-year-olds pull bother you, move out of Ann Arbor RIGHT NOW. I am telling you this for your own good. You will only be unhappy around an institution of some 30,000 undergraduates. And I can say with certainty, 20-year-olds do some crazy stuff. Just like you did when you were 20.

If you have any comment, save it; I don't want to hear it. I have real work to do and I don't have time to whimper around with people who don't know the difference between Stuff That Matters and Stuff That Doesn't.